TECH-ARROW has consistently warned against legacy systems being kept as part of your data structure and management – but what is a legacy data system, really? There’re a few options that fall under this definition, but they all share some key characteristics: they’re a leftover from a previous time, and no longer a good fit.
Systems past their EOL
The simplest example are systems that are quite simply no longer supported. They have reached their end of life or end of support, and as such are no longer a good match for business needs.
The systems, being no longer updated, can lack not only modern quality of life improvements but also features with an eye to the current regulatory or security environment. Despite this, they can persist surprisingly long in use. Organizations can baulk at the expense of trying to replace an older data management platform, archive or backup, migrate all their data and integrate the replacement into their production environment. Instead, they opt to stick their heads in the sand until the problem becomes acute.
“That’s not my system”
The other major source of persistent legacy systems is those your organization never actually used. In acquisitions and mergers, organizations can end up in possession of old data stored in a myriad different software solutions. These solutions are often never integrated into the new organization as a whole and can slip through the cracks. An excellent example is the recent OneMedical data breach – the data in question was not from the production environment, but rather from a legacy archive holding records from that acquisition, sitting in an external system through three corporate transitions over five years.
While these systems are not critical, that in some ways makes the problem worse; it’s less likely that anyone is paying attention to potential regulatory gaps or security failures when the data is out of sight, out of use and out of mind.
Still useful, but expensive
The final kind of legacy system you may encounter are those which still maintain utility and are not aged-out in terms of development, but simply by their shrinking user base. Some systems are sufficiently niche that finding programmers versed in their environment becomes a challenge.
The difficulty introduced by these systems, then, is not one of compliance and security but simple economics. With a shrinking pool of expertise to draw on, maintenance of such systems becomes prohibitively expensive. Often, such systems soldier on in environments where an acceptable replacement simply has not been created yet, necessitating the older software being kept.
Accountability is paramount
Whether legacy systems are a derelict remnant of an older business, an unupdated software past its usefulness, or an aging design running into compatibility problems and increased overhead, the main thing to key onto is accountability.
Keeping track of your data and your responsibilities is an expectation for any organization, regardless of the difficulty this presents. Sooner or later, this means that the effort and expense of unifying your data structure will become necessary, and waiting only extends your period of vulnerability.
TECH-ARROW can help – our migrator tool allows you to seamlessly transfer data from your legacy systems into a newer data management solution with minimal risk and stress. If you’re interested in learning more, contact our team and schedule your free consultation today.
Your Data in Your hands – With TECH-ARROW
by Matúš Koronthály
Image generated by Canva
